Almost two decades later, community laments lack of closure on the tragedy
Tribals gathered in front of martyrs' tower to observe the 18th anniversary of Kalinganagar firing incident. Photo: Ashis Senapati Members of tribal communities and anti-land acquisition leaders converged at ‘Birabhumi’ or the martyrs tower on January 2, 2024 to observe the anniversary of Kalinganagar firing almost two decades ago. On the same day in 2006, 14 tribal people were killed in a clash at the Kalinganagar steel complex in Odisha’s Jajpur district while protesting the construction of a boundary wall for a proposed mega steel plant.
Many tribals, including women and children, marched from Champakoila to Ambagadia, shouting slogans and culminating in a rally at the martyrs’ tower.
In his address to the meeting, Rabindra Jaraka, secretary of the Bisthapan Birodhi Jana Mancha (BBJM), stated, “The government has yet to explain the reason for the firing. The state government is only too keen to sign memorandums of understanding with the big corporate houses and to practically gift away the best deposits of iron ore as captive mines at a merge amount of royalty.”
Read more: Remembering Kalinganagar - Will cheap and dirty industrialization work?
Jaraka claimed that even after 18 years of police firing, the state government has failed to wipe the tribal people’s tears away as hope for justice for the 14 people killed by police fades.
“For this steel plant, approximately 5,000 tribals were displaced from their land. Kalinganagar is the hub of as many as 14 steel companies. However, many locals who lost their lands to industrialisation are unable to find work,” said Swaranalata Banara, sarapanch of Gobaraghati Gram Panchayat.
Banara also expressed concerns about the slipshod attitude of the authorities to check pollution from the plants and to provide proper housing facilities to the displaced persons in the steel hub at Kalinganagar and nearby areas.
Most tribal people in the Sukinda and Danagadi blocks of Jajpur district have no legal right to the land, said Nati Gagerei, a tribal leader.
As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, the authorities have been empowered to convene the meeting of Gram Sabhas and receive the claims for land. The claims will be verified by the officials before they hand over possession of the claimed land, Gagerei added.
“The Act envisages that the ‘beneficiaries’ include all forest dwellers, giving title to those who were occupying forestlands for three generations as of December 5, 2005. But the government has done little to implement the Act in tribal-dominated villages, as tribals do not feature on the priority list of the government,” said Gagerei.
The fate of large numbers of tribal people and forest dwellers is hanging in balance thanks to the poor implementation of the ambitious Act in many tribal-dominated villages, the tribal leader said.
A large number of people near the villages of Kalinaganagar have been forced to lead a life amidst stench and filth, with the officials showing a strange reluctance to intervene, said Sini Soy, a tribal leader.
“Open drains, potholes, massive waterlogging and air and water pollution in the rehabilitation colonies and nearby villages have made people’s lives in Kalinganagar areas miserable. The main causes of river pollution and water shortages in many villages near the river Brahmani are rampant industrialisation and unregulated industrial use of water,” Soy added.
Read more: A year after Kalinganagar firing, tribal India refuses to shine
Soy also demanded a thorough investigation into steel plants and other industrial units that pollute water resources and harm agricultural crops.
Protesters claimed that for years, industrial pollution had severely impacted approximately 1,500 families in nine villages surrounding the Kalinganagar areas and that several people had developed skin cancer and other serious diseases.
In his address to the meeting, Abdul Wali, president of the state unit of the Republic Party of India, criticised the state cabinet’s decision in 2017 to accept the report of the inquiry commission on the Kalinganagar firing. “In the report, the inquiry commission did not blame the police for the killing of 14 tribal people, so we completely rejected the commission’s report,” Wali added.
Security has been increased in Kalinganagar and its surrounding areas in preparation for the 18th anniversary of the Kalinganagar shooting, according to Nabakrushna Jena, the additional district magistrate.
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